Las Vegas Racquel Darrian

: the great writer and political idiot

Knut Hamsun was one of my first writers whom I read when I began to sneak into the underworld of the literature. I remember in those early unsuspected, have removed some old books from a public library, which he read tirelessly, cutting out pictures, uprooting whole chapters of literary studies, somehow these texts would devour all moldy Hacan me sneeze. Well so happens when one feels thrill of finding something new. During that time I met Norse literature: August Strindberg, Bjørnstjerne Bjornson, Sigrid Undset, Knut Hamsun, Henrik Ibsen were some of the many types strangers who invaded my new literary scene. The image of Knut Hamsun, as one of my literary standards, peered through a small article where it states as one of the closest collaborators of the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler . Now, after a while, I again run into a very similar and interesting note, which I post with the intention to know this great writer.

The arrival in Chile of a documented study of the Norwegian author who received the Nobel in 1920, revived interest in his work and the controversy over his outspoken support for the Nazis during World War II.

German culture ... all that time Hamsun acknowledges a debt of gratitude. From the first moment, Germany edited and reprinted books and over again, even in runs higher than those of Norway. The message of redemption rural reaches deep into a country from the romance, seek their roots. Unfortunately, this desire for an ideal past is soon to be exploited by the Nazis. Goebbels and other hierarchs openly flatter a writer who is left flatter. Hamsun was Germanophile forever. Hopes that Germany released to Norway and the rest of Europe of British hegemony.

During the heyday of the Third Reich, Hamsun justifies everything: war, concentration camps, persecution and death of millions of people. However, concerned about the German occupation of Norway, which is becoming increasingly wild. Out of loyalty to their ideas, for sure, prefer to attribute it exclusively to the brutality of the Reich commissioner Josef Terboven .

Thanks to the high-level contacts with his wife Marie with the Nazi hierarchy, Hamsun move heaven, sea and earth to get an interview with Hitler. Seeks to moderate the regime of terror, alienating and ensure Terboven Norway's sovereignty as an independent nation within a pan-Germanic confederation led by Germany.

The Berghof führer receive it in late January 1943. "I feel very connected to you, of course not entirely. In a way, my life and theirs are very similar," says the writer failed painter who was about to fail. Then, Hitler rejects a claim for Hamsun. The result of the hearing is humiliating. The old man wept like a child Hamsun.

Taken from: The Mercury